Terminating Representation: A Call for Class-Conscious Ethical Deliberation

Rebecca Yoheved Starr

Georgetown University Law Center; Class of 2000; A.B., Brown University, 1993

Setting up a paradigm based upon an actual scenario and its hypothetical counterpart, this Essay analyzes the ethical deliberative processes in which an attorney engages when contemplating the termination of the representation of a client. Utilizing the deliberative tools embodied by the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and utilitarianism-which at first glance would direct an attorney to make a class-neutral decision-this Essay argues that these tools must be used in a class-conscious manner. To effectively counteract biases existing in the construct of the Model Rules and faults in the practical application of utilitarianism, and be true to their ideals, it is incumbent upon an attorney to account for socio-economic class in her ethical deliberation.

Vol. VII, No. 1, p. 147

Revised July 16, 2003 (MD)